SAGINAW, MI — Long before the first guitar lick amplifies from the stages at Ojibway Island, the fun begins.

Once gates opened at 7 a.m. Saturday, June 21, for the KCQ Country Music Fest, people started flocking to the island, located off Ezra Rust in Saginaw.

And by 9 a.m. when the vendors started selling their wares, there were plenty of customers gathering to purchase sunglasses, cowboy hats and adult beverages.

Under sunny skies, country music fans scouted out spots in the shade to set up their camping chairs and blankets.

Toward the front of the island, car enthusiasts gathered for a classic car show, where you could spot vehicles such as a red 1965 Ford Thunderbird convertible and a brown 1986 Chevrolet El Camino.

"I'm a car-aholic," said Gary Jump II, who brought his uniquely painted 1981 Jeep CJ7 to the event.

The Jeep, which Jump has owned since about 1988, has a design on the hood featuring Jesus and a white horse with a clock in the background.

"It's forecasting Christ's second return," Jump said of the design.

"That's part of my faith," he said.

Jump has attended the free country concert for the past decade, he explained. As a country music fan, he said he'll stick around for the show.

Others, like Ron Turmell of Auburn, have far less experience with the one-day music festival.

"It's my first time even on (Ojibway Island)," Turmell said. "I didn't even know how to get here."

As a self-proclaimed fan of heavy metal, Turmell was never compelled to attend the concert in years past. But, after some friends mentioned the car show, he decided to bring out his 1994 Pontiac Trans Am.

"My buddies talked me into it," he said.

Just behind the area designated for the car show, attendees gathered to get airbrushed temporary tattoos and look at jewelry and clothing-filled vendors booths.

"I have a blast coming to this show," said John Campbell of Greenville, Michigan, who was busy selling his "extreme squirt guns."

For four or five years, according to Campbell, he has set up shop at the KCQ Country Music Fest with his unique, high-powered squirt guns that he designed with the help of his dad about 15 years ago.

— Jessica Shepherd is an entertainment reporter with MLive/The Saginaw News. Contact her at 989-996-0687, email her at jessica_shepherd@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter or Facebook. You can also hear her Fridays at 8 a.m. on 102.5 WIOG's Nate and Rachel in the Morning.